Improvement in cornets



H. ESBACH. Cornet.

No. 214,498. Patented April 221879 U NTTED STATES PATENT FFIGE.

llEN l-Y ESBACH, O FVBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORNETS.

Specilication forming part el" Letters Patent N0. 2141.498, dated April '22,

1879; application tiled lhfbruary 17, 1879.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY Esnnorr, ot' Boston, of the county ot' Suii'olk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gornets or musical instruments of like character and do hereby declare the same to be described in the following specication and represented in the accompanying drawings, ol which- Figure l is a top view, Figs. 2 and V3 opposite side elevations, and Fig. et a transverse section, of a cornet provided with my invention, whose purpose is to enable the instrument to be rmly grasped by and well balanced in one hand of a player, and its keys to be manipulated with ease and to advantage by his other hand, without contact of it with the trumpet.

rlhe nature et' my invention is duly defined in and by the claims hereinafter made.

In the drawings, A denotes the trumpet part, provided with a mouth-pieee-receivin g tube, B, arranged alongside of it and between it, and the series ot valve-cases C D E. The trumpet or its smaller end opens into the valve-case G.

From each valve-case two branch pipes extend downward, as shown at a, b, c, d, e, and f, there being to each pair ot such pipes a connection slide-pipe, as shown at F, G, and H.

Furthermore, the val ve-cases are connected by the two intervening conduits I I, and are provided with four-way valves, in the usual manner, whose barrels or journals, with which the keys K K K are connected by catgut strings, are shown at g g g as projecting from the inner ends ot the valve-cases.

The pair of tubes a Z are arranged so that a player can insert the second, third, and fourth fingers oi his left hand between them, the pair of tubes c j" being also arranged so that the player at the same time may insert the thumb of such hand between them, so as to grasp with his hand the two tubes b and c.

-There is fixed to the tube b a linger-rest, h, to bear on the foreiinger ot' the players hand, and below such rest, and connecting the tube b with the tube fi, leading from the valve-case E, and with the mouth-piece-receiving tube B, having a slide-connection tube, 7;, is another finger-rest, I, which, when the instrument 1s held in the hand, bears on the third or fourth finger thereof.

A -cross-bar, L, arranged somewhat above and parallel. to the series ot' valve-cases, and supported by two arms, m in., extended therefrom, as shown, has a series of knobs, a, extending from it, and serving to support the pivotal rod o, upon which the pivotal tubes y p p of the keys are arranged and turned.

The valve-keys K have their shanks q fastened to such tubes p, and arched and extended underneath the valve-eases, and through the spaces between the pipes that lead out of the lower parts ot' such cases. rlhence the said shanks rise upward alongside ot` the valve barrels or journals, and are connected thereto by catgut strings, so arranged and applied as to cause each valve to be turned onepway during a depression ot' the key, and in the opposite way when the key may be moved upward.

To each key, to at't'ect its upward movement, there is a bow-spring, T, which is fastened to the bar L, and bears against the upper part of the key-shank, all being as represented.

I would observe that while playing the cornet the thumb et' the right hand ot' the performer rests against the mouth-piece-receivin g tube, the hand being extended around the trumpet to the keys without contact with the trumpet to aitect its vibrations. An instrument constructed as described can be lirmly grasped and supported with ease, and played on to great advantage.

My improved ar 1angement of the trumpet, the series of valve-cases, and the mouth-piecereceiving tube is such as to cause the latter not only to be between the trumpet and valvecases, but to open in close proximity to the commencement and end ot' the lturn or bow ot' the trumpet, whereby the mouth-piece, when inserted in its receiving-tube, projects across and beyond the said turn or bow in manner as shown, which is not the case in horns or instruments of the kind shown in the United States Patent No. 158,594, the bow or iirst turn in such instruments when they are being played on extending around the neck and resting on the shoulder et7 the performer.

lVith my improved cornet the head and neck of the player are wholly outside of the'bow of the trumpet while such trumpet may be in the act of being played.

In the above-described cornet, I claim` as my invention as follows: f

l. Themouth-piecereoeiving tube, arranged between thetrumpet and the series of valvecases, and having its mouth in close proximity with the commencement of the bow of the trumpet, so as to cause the mouth-piece, when in place in the tube, to extend across and beyond the bow, all being substantially as set forth.

2; The key-journals of the valves, arranged between the trumpet and the valve-eases, in combination with the key, so arranged, and

3. The combination of the two finger-restsh l, arranged as described, with the two outer valve-ease pairs of receiving branch pipes, eX- tended from their valve-cases, so as toenable the fingers of the hand offa player to be passed lthrough the openings of the said pairs, and to grasp the inner pipes ofsuch pairs, as set forth.

HENRY ESBACH. Witnesses: 4

. R. H. EDDY,

W. W. LUNT. 

